03Panther
03Panther UltraDork
7/10/21 11:14 p.m.

Anybody on the west side of the country thinking about a trip to the S. E. ? I'd love to pay ya to bring a motorcycle with ya!

Baring a GRM relay - motorcycle is a bit much to ask; but with this crowd, who knows! - I figure some one on here could recommend a cheap shipping option. I wouldn't know where to start! 
Ball park guess at a price point?  
thanks!

preach (fs)
preach (fs) HalfDork
7/11/21 6:07 a.m.

A number of guys I work with use Harley-Davidson dealerships. I do not know if they only ship Harleys though. 

We live in NH/ME and work a ton in San Diego. I think they pay something between $600-800 for that trip dealer to dealer.

I know a few of them that have driven the trip. That would be epic!

Toyman01 + Sized and
Toyman01 + Sized and MegaDork
7/11/21 6:37 a.m.

My business partner just shipped one out. Motorcycles is all this guy hauled. I'll try to remember to aks if he still has the contact info. 

ddavidv
ddavidv UltimaDork
7/11/21 7:17 a.m.

I had a guy ship me a bike last year. Turns out he ships most of the bikes for SRK Cycles ("Bikes and Beards" on YouTube). He goes all over the country. I can't remember the guy's name but I saved his number in my phone = 770 757 7307

Woody (Forum Supportum)
Woody (Forum Supportum) MegaDork
7/11/21 7:30 a.m.

I sold a bike to a guy in Georgia. He handled the the shipping, but he used (I think) 1-800-HaulBikes.

They were incredibly professional when they picked it up and I immediately thought that if I ever needed to have a bike shipped to me that I'd use them.

lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter)
lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) HalfDork
7/11/21 3:15 p.m.

Keyboard transport is who we used when we had our dealership.

 

http://www.keyboardmotorcycleshipping.com

Jesse Ransom
Jesse Ransom UltimaDork
7/11/21 4:26 p.m.

I feel like I've been passing on some old recommendation for Forward Air for years, but I haven't actually used them. It's another option if the more first-hand accounts don't pan out.

03Panther
03Panther UltraDork
7/11/21 9:32 p.m.

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I'm off tomorrow, so if I can sleep tonight, I'll be able to make some phone calls. 
The ones with websites are definitely catering to the high end customs. There base service comes with $20,000 insurance, with options for higher. I hope I can find one that will understand I don't need as special care and high cost insurance on a $500 parts bike! Even in showroom condition, they can be had for less than $3K. And this one, although runs ok, ain't. 

CWR67
CWR67 New Reader
7/13/21 9:02 a.m.

Late last year I shipped a bike from New Mexico to Florida using Daily Direct / Haul Bikes.  

 

The good:

Dedicated motorcycle haulers

Great price (contracted price of $568 later dropped to $423 ... see below as to why)

 

The bad:

Disappointment, frustration, and left shaking my head

My guess is they don't roll a truck unless it is 100% capacity.  Seems that they have a "hub" system of getting a bike from point a to point b.  They will pick a bike up locally, take it to one of their hubs, and when they have 100% capacity on a truck going to another hub closer to you they will roll that truck.  Wash, rinse, repeat until it gets to the final truck that will deliver it to your house.   

 

I contracted for pick up on 11-23-20.  The bike was picked up on 12-05-20 in Albuquerque, NM and the paperwork indicated delivery between pick up and 12-13-20.  No communication at all from Daily Direct / Haul Bikes until I called and spoke with the office on 12-21-20.  She stated the bike was on the road now and will arrive in Ocala on 12-23-20.  I called on 12-23-20 at 5:20pm eastern to find out the delivery status and was told it had not yet arrived in Ocala but would be loaded on the Florida delivery truck on 12-24-20 and would arrive the next week. I explained my "disappointment" in their service and asked what they were going to do about dropping the ball on their end.  I was told they would issue a partial refund (ended up being 25% of shipping cost after talking with the "manager").  On 12-30-20 I was emailed by Daily Direct / Haul Bikes indicating the bike would be delivered between 01-02-21 and 01-04-21.  Apparently this is when my bike was actually loaded on the "local" Florida truck (according to the delivery driver).  Once in the delivery driver's hands, communications were timely and accurate.  The dispatch end of this company is horrible.  They set what appear to be unrealistic deadlines then consistently fail to meet them.  And when I say unrealistic I mean way too long in the future and STILL drop the ball.  I deal with auto shippers often and am familiar with how they operate....far superior to Daily Direct / Haul Bikes. 

 

So if you have a ton of patience, don't "need" the bike in a timely manner, and are looking to save some money they could be an option.  If you are eager to get your hands on the bike and/or "need" it to be at a particular place on/by a particular date, I would not recommend them.

 

 

akylekoz
akylekoz SuperDork
7/13/21 10:51 a.m.

I removed the wheels, bars, and crated the pieces, dropped the crate off at Fastenal.  $200 later it was sent from Michigan to Cali I think.

Rusnak_322
Rusnak_322 Dork
7/13/21 11:24 a.m.

I have used this a few times, www.uship.com

 

I sold a bike and the buyer hired someone  off there to deliver it to Florida. it was a lady  hauling her boat to Florida and she put the bike in the truck bed.

I used them to transport a bike from Ohio to Texas and I used a highly recommended company. They came with a 40' gooseneck and had all the tie downs and wheel chocks. Used it two other times on bikes I sold and one on a bike I bought, and never had any complaints.

03Panther
03Panther UltraDork
7/13/21 1:31 p.m.

In reply to akylekoz :

That has me interested in a bit more info. Was that shipped BY fastenal, or just an industrial address for the shipper to pick it up?

akylekoz
akylekoz SuperDork
7/13/21 2:47 p.m.

In reply to 03Panther :

I dropped off a crate at my local Michigan Fastenal, they shipped it to another Fastenal in California where the buyer picked it up.   You want the same except backwards, have to see if the seller is willing to deal with that.  

What I shipped was a CT70 and my whole collection of single cylinder Honda stuff, engines, transmissions, gaskets and performance parts.  It was a 48" x 52" x 36" crate.

03Panther
03Panther UltraDork
7/14/21 12:58 a.m.

In reply to akylekoz :

That would be great, if the dothan fastenal will work with me on that. Bit more bike to deal with - BMW K100 RS, but I know how small I could crate it... I'll have to se if the owner can (or will!) Would be taking it completely apart as soon as it got here, anyway. Thanks.

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
7vZfC54oL1NTXOzMIS9Bq0mfCo3NpkJSQKHAh0x64B2f4jHroQ3Ka84ILni1qsLg